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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Marking time

Steve

Hi, friends.Thought I would put in my two cent’s worth as it has been a while. I have been so blessed by the depth and
reflections of the other contributors to this page, that I have felt somewhat
unnecessary in keeping the information stream flowing.Today’s post is about marking time.From very early on in this journey, I had to
tell myself that at some point, this horrendous pattern of weekly chemotherapy sessions
will indeed end.

Sometimes it is nice to have something tangible to
mark the passing of the sessions or the days.I may have mentioned before about the paper chain the kids have
made.I am happy to report that it is
getting markedly shorter.Here is a
picture of it, draped along the banister:

When we started this whole process, it was not only
draped around the bottom rail, but was dragging on the floor.We are now more than half way to the top,
which is very exciting.

Then there’s me with my little project:macramé and beads.Gabrielle mentioned my fondness for the bead
shop.She makes it sound as if I am such
a regular customer there that, just as in the old T.V. show, Cheers, everyone
knows my name.Not quite…there still are
a couple of clerks who don’t know me.But, I will say that I do indeed know the drill when I go in and zero in
on the beads that catch my fancy.I
decided to make some macramé ropes (though we and my people “in the know” refer
to it as sennet…that’s the plaited product) with some beads interspersed along
the way by which I can count down till the sessions are all done.Here are three that I have done:

The one with the wood and black beads is my first
attempt. I attach it to my key ring. My Catholic friends think it's a rosary. Fine. Whatever works. It is made of some sort of
tropical wooden bead to represent the dual chemo sessions and then black onyx
beads to represent the single chemo sessions.I really wanted yew wood for the wooden beads, but got stymied in my
hunt for it.In between each bead, there
are seven knots…one for each day.I
quickly lost track of where we were, so added the little black piece at the top. It is now next to the eleventh bead and is held on with a little gold heart-shaped clip (only $1.25 at my bead
shop!).Every Friday, I advance it one
more bead.Pretty cool, huh?

Daniel’s necklace is the one with the pink and the
black pieces in the middle.These are made of red and
black coral.I know, there may be some
dissenters out there who worry that I may be ruining the reef, what with
diminishing coral supplies and all.But,
get this:last time we were in Hawaii, I
stumbled across a beach with this huge sign that said “KAPU” and waded in.I was surrounded by these massive forests of
lovely pink and black coral and started snapping them off right and left.I figured “KAPU” meant “Keep Any Pieces
U-pickup, Brudda!”, the “B” being broken off or scratched out by an annoying
tourist who can’t respect the privacy and local customs of the Hawaiian
people.There was a rather irate park
ranger standing on the beach when I got out, about as big as the famed Hawaiian
singer, Iz. He explained that Kapu meant “Stay out!”.Sheesh!Now he tells me! I am scheduled
to be arraigned soon, so I guess I will be “marking time” of my own from my
very own jail cell in Lahaina in the not too distant future.Hope they let me take my bead necklace along
to mark the passing of the years…

Gabrielle’s bracelet is more benign:beach glass.
She said it reminds her of walks on the beach and the peace and tranquility of
the sea.I like that.

Now, these fine pieces of craftsmanship may beg the
question: how did I ever learn such intricate artistry?Well, as long as you asked, I’ll tell
you:I learned it on the Internet!Heck, that’s what half my patients do when
they want to learn about complex medical issues.They show up with reams of printouts from “mydiagnosis.com”
or “mydocknowsnuthin’.com” and show me the tests I need to order.If it works for them, it can work for me.So, I came across step by step instructions
on how to “knit one, pearl two” or something of the sort.Found them on a website devoted to crafts.It was titled “Easy projects for Brownie
troops” and was listed right alongside making a dandelion chain and emptying
the cat’s litter box.Still haven’t
mastered either of those two yet.But I’m
getting pretty good at the ol’ macramé.Here’s my little kit of supplies, which I keep in my very own “Operation”
lunch box. You can't quite read the fine print under the big "Operation" title, but it says "Where you're the doctor". I like that part the best. Oh, and the very happy patient...

You will notice that I use bona fide hemp cord.It is strong, durable, and if Gabrielle
continues to get nauseous, she can roll it up and smoke it.The black thread serves a dual purpose.It is used in some of my projects, but is
also impressed into service to patch up my wetsuit.It seems to be getting a little more wear and
tear lately and has had a couple of new rips.I suspect that’s due to the fact that I am still doing my part to help
Gabrielle gain weight by leading by example.Apparently, my wetsuit isn’t quite as accommodating of my newer shape as
my “generous cut, relaxed fit spandex pants”.

So here’s to “marking time”.The light is starting to appear at the end of
the tunnel and we’re more than halfway through with the chemo.For that we are all very thankful.Oh, and just in case you want to call the
Hawaiian Department of Natural Resources or Greenpeace or Save Our Coral
Association and snitch on me, I didn’t really go around harvesting the stuff
over there.Bought it from a store on
Aurora from a guy in a trenchcoat who also wanted to sell me some Maui
Wowie.Now, how more legit can you get
than that?